


Ocean eyes and starlit skies

by pastelstarsandacid



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hope this isn't too shitty, Just eremin fluff, M/M, One Shot, Sort of reincarnation I guess???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 19:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5714503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelstarsandacid/pseuds/pastelstarsandacid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came"</i><br/>(John F. Kennedy)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ocean eyes and starlit skies

Armin wakes up later than usual that morning, yawning as he peels off Eren's arm from where it's wrapped around his waist. His head buzzes with a not-entirely-unpleasant ache, and his tongue feels thick and clumsy in his mouth. He's willing to bet he doesn't smell great, either, but his nose is clogged and useless. Still, it's nothing a good shower and a few cups of tea can't fix, he thinks as he stumbles across the room, picking his way over discarded cups and crumpled shirts. _This place could certainly do with a clean,_ he scolds himself, as he snags a sweater from the chair he never uses; it's slowly turning into a dumping pile for when he can't be bothered to open up his increasingly disorganised wardrobe.

 

Eren is still out cold when he gets out of the shower, feeling considerably better now that he doesn't have to breathe through his mouth. He's feeling so good he even sacrifices some of his precious little butter (he's never realised just how bloody expensive food becomes when all your savings go into seemingly useless textbooks and tuition fees) to make pancakes for them both. The frying smell makes him slightly nauseous, but he's far too hungry to care, and he piles on enough syrup to give an entire city diabetes.

 

"Rise and shine, beautiful." he trills as he yanks open the curtains, almost blinding himself in the process. Once his vision returns to normal, he reaches down to shake Eren, who groaned and pulled the covers over his head the moment Armin entered the room.

"Wakey wakey."

"Mngh...go 'way." Eren mumbles sleepily, squinting up at him through big, lashy eyes. _He looks so cute,_ Armin can't help but observe, with his hair mussed and sticking up in every direction, clutching the covers up to his chin defiantly.

 

"I made pancakes." he holds out his peace offering, but Eren scrunches up his nose in disgust and turns away.

"Ugh...don't, Armin, please, I feel like I'm gonna throw up just looking at them. Sorry, but my head hurts like fuck, and I'm pretty sure those drinks last night were poisoned." he complains. Armin nods sympathetically, but he can't help the amused smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth.

"D'you want a shower?" he asks. This receives a slightly more positive response, so Armin slings Eren's arm over his shoulder and helps support him as he staggers towards the bathroom.

"Don't drown in there." he warns, as he closes the door. Eren gives him a half-hearted thumbs-up and he laughs.

 

***

 

 

Three cups of coffee and two aspirin later, Eren is more or less a functional human being. He still turns his nose up at the pancakes, though.

"Come on, you have to eat _something._ " Armin coaxes, but Eren just shakes his head, and Armin decides to let it be. "More for me, then." he decides as he pulls the plate over and attacks it enthusiastically. No point in wasting good food, after all. Eren gives him a faint smile, and it's then that Armin _knows_ today is going to be a good day.

 

***

 

"Can't they keep it down?" Eren complains, his face screwing up in pain as a particularly rowdy group of students walk past. "Some of us had a rough night."

"I _did_ tell you to watch how much you drank yesterday." Armin reminds him. "Besides, it's not my fault that you're a huge lightweight."

"I am _not._ " Eren sounds mortified, and he digs Armin with his elbow as they round the corner. "Besides, you're the one who-"

But Armin never gets to hear what he is, because, at that moment, Eren lets out a panicked yelp and drags Armin roughly back around the corner they just turned.

"Eren, what the-"

"Hide." Eren gasps, pulling them both into a supply closet. A shelf smacks Armin on the head, and he almost slips on a poorly-placed dustpan.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell _that_ was all about?" he questions as he rubs his forehead and blinks back the tears that have gathered in his eyes. "Eren," he begins more forcefully, as Eren peers through the shutters nervously.

"Okay. He's gone." he exhales and slumps to the floor, looking relieved.

" _Who's_ gone?"

"Professor Smith. I bunked his class last week, and ever since then he's been out to get me." Eren explains sheepishly. Armin rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"You can't just skip class, Eren. I know it you've heard it before, but it really is your future that's hanging in the balance." he chastises him. Eren at least has the decency to look slightly ashamed, but it's clear he doesn't really care. "Besides, you have class with him today. You can hardly avoid him forever."

"Yeah, well, he can't exactly kill me in public unless he wants to land his ass in jail, can he?" Eren grins.

"I wouldn't count on it." Armin sighs. He suddenly realises just how small the space they're trapped in is, and how close they're standing. He can count every one of Eren's eyelashes from this distance.

"We should, uh, probably move." he mutters nervously. "I mean, it's not like we're a secret anymore, and I'm pretty sure half the campus thinks we're making out in here right now."

Eren smirks at him.

"Might as well give them something to talk about, then."

 

Both of them are late for class that morning, and Armin is suddenly very thankful that today is the day he chose to wear a turtleneck sweater.

 

***

 

Armin's last class for the day finishes long before Eren's, and, since it's still light out, he refuses to waste the opportunity. He's in his car before he even knows it, driving off without a destination in mind, but fully aware of where he'll end up.

 

Of course, he finds himself by the sea.

 

He's not entirely sure what draws him to it, after all these years. There's just something about it that makes him feel _free_ ; its vast, churning power and awesome strength seems to call to him, somehow. And there's something else as well, though he can never quite describe it- every time he tries to pin it down it slips from his grasp, like water through his hands.

 

_The scent of woodsmoke; sand shifting beneath his feet, its grains catching between his toes and sticking to the soles. The tangy scent of seaweed; laughter as he walks towards a bonfire, another's hand clutching his tightly. Two others stand beside him as they watch the sun sink below the waves, throwing off dazzling colours as its light fades and dies. The sharp taste of salt and blood as another's lips meet his own; he clutches the rough fabric of a shirt to hide his shaking hands as he leans into the kiss and-_

 

These memories are not his own, and yet they are. Armin can't explain it- they surface in his dreams again and again, but never stay long enough for him to really _remember._ It's as if he's reliving another life, one that faded and passed into obscurity centuries ago. All he can glean from the fractured, sporadic bursts of colour is that it was short and unfair and full of hardship, but it also ended happily, and he wouldn't have had it any other way.

 

"Hey, Armin, what the bloody hell are you doing out here? It's freezing, you're going to catch your death." Eren's voice brings him back to reality with a sudden jolt, and Armin shakes his head in frustration as the memories slip out of his grasp yet again, scattered like ashes in the wind. Nevertheless, a smile curves across his lips as Eren makes his way hurriedly towards him, reaching out to touch his face gently as he does.

 

"You're cold." he mutters, fussing over him like a mother hen as he wraps a scarf around his shoulder's, even though Armin's turtleneck keeps off the worst of the chill. He also wraps his arms around Armin's waist, and, as Eren's body heat starts to thaw his frozen skin, he realises that it _is_ quite cold, and presses himself closer, shivering at the wind's icy touch.

 

"I spent hours out of my mind with worry, looking for you." Eren scolds him "And yet again, you're out here, freezing to death because of your precious ocean."

"You really should know better than to go looking anywhere else by now. Besides, I have a cell phone. You could always try calling it." Armin retorts.

"I did." Eren sounds amused "But you were far too busy daydreaming in that pretty head of yours." He's right; Armin's phone flashes angrily at him as it alerts him to thirteen missed calls and five texts, but his fingers are so numb he can't even unlock his phone to read them.

"L-Let's go before we c-catch hypothermia." he stutters through shaking lips, accepting the proffered hand that pulls him to his feet as he brushes sand off the back of his jeans. They walk back, slowly, hand in hand, Eren using his height advantage to rest his head on Armin's shoulder.

 

"They're the same colour." he murmurs quietly, but not enough for Armin not to catch his words.

"What?" he asks, confused. Eren's ramblings aren't all that uncommon, but they never fail to surprise him.

"Your eyes. They're exactly the same colour as the sea. You have ocean eyes." Eren explains, flushing pink with embarrassment at being caught in his reverie. "My mom always used to say that about you when we were kids. She said that people with eyes like that had lived a thousand lives, as deep and mysterious as the ocean, or something like that. Always sounded a bit stupid to me, but who knows? Maybe she had a point."

"Yeah." Armin replies quietly. "Maybe."

 

The sound of the ocean fades and cuts off when Armin shuts the car door, but, if he closes his eyes, he swears he can still hear the mournful cries of seabirds; taste the salt on his lips and feel the rapid beating of his heart as he kisses Eren under another, starlit sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that wasn't so bad...right?
> 
> ...right? *whimpers*
> 
> This is for one of my friends, who is a huge eremin fanboy (you know who you are), but also as a peace offering after that trainwreck of a fic I posted yesterday. Apologies for that.
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated!


End file.
